Warburton ready to make ‘tough decisions’ for long-term health of QPR

Warburton ready to make ‘tough decisions’ for long-term health of QPR

Mark Warburton is under no illusion about the size of the task he has inherited at QPR.

The former Brentford, Rangers and Nottingham Forest boss was last week named as Steve McClaren’s successor at Loftus Road.

McClaren was sacked in April following a run of one win in 15 Championship games, leaving the Hoops in danger of being sucked into the relegation battle.

They survived under caretaker boss John Eustace, who has stayed on as assistant manager.

Next season, however, will be QPR’s first without a parachute payment following their relegation from the Premier League in 2015.

Rangers have already had to let five players who cost around £5million combined, in Alex Baptiste, Jake Bidwell, Jordan Cousins, Joel Lynch and Pawel Wszolek, leave on free transfers in a bid to balance the books.

But Warburton, who guided Brentford to the play-offs with a shoestring budget, is confident he can halt QPR’s slide.

“I’ve had experience of clubs in a similar situation, at Brentford for example, where I’ve had to build, play young players, use the academy, and use your connections in the game, and hopefully introduce a style of play which the fans will enjoy,” he said.

“The club has had well-documented problems in recent seasons. The job of the board and the owners is to make sure the club is on a sound financial footing.

“I asked the right questions, I know exactly what we can and can’t do, what we have to do in terms of the season ahead and how we can build a squad. The clarity is there for me. Now we have to go and do a job.

“Our job is to be the best we can be. There will be 24 teams talking about being the fittest, the strongest, but it’s about action rather than words. We’ll take it one game at a time in what is a tough division.

“I’ve been here a matter of days but I understand the financial situation and we understand what we need to do as a club to give it that firm foundation.

“Some tough decisions have had to be made and will have to be made going forward. But it’s all for the good of the club, for the long-term health and welfare of QPR.”

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